Four-letter rant by chairman thickens Owen transfer plot

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Even before yesterday’s events, Freddy Shepherd was unlikely to be commended for diplomacy, but after a trying period for Newcastle United, the club’s chairman has been caught on video offering to “f***ing carry” Michael Owen back to Anfield.

The video clip, which was posted on the YouTube web-site, was dismissed by Newcastle as “tongue-in-cheek banter”, but with Owen’s future on Tyneside the subject of growing speculation, the timing is unfortunate.

Earlier this week, Shepherd demanded publicly that the England forward should “come out and tell our fans he is happy here”. On the video, approached in his car by two